Research Station Alpha
by Gear
Summary: A genetically engineered Commander and the small research station he defends.


(Author's Notes: This is my first fanfiction ever, originally it was posted on the forums at the cavedog website [received several good reviews for it from them as well] when they were still in business. It's a shame that they tanked; I was looking forward to Total Annihilation II.)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
1 Research Station Alpha  
  
1.1 By: Gear  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
My designation is CX-1, but my friends just call me X. And this is my first command, I had worked for years to get here. I am in charge of defending Research Station Alpha, the Arm's Primary research facility. Unlike other Commanders, I got a new experimental suit with all of the capabilities of an advanced c-unit in addition to the normal structures. I had better Radar coverage and weapons range, along with a new nanolathe that was twice as fast.  
  
When I first stepped through the Galactic Gate from Empyrean, there where only 4 buildings, the research station, two fusion reactors, and a Moho metal extractor. I immediately started nanolathing two more Moho extractors, an advanced radar tower, and then I built a K-bot lab and an advanced K-Bot lab, and I ordered 10 Pee-wees, 4 Rocko's, 4 Jethro's, 2 Hammers, 4 Zeus', 8 Fido's, 2 Mavericks, and 2 Adv. C-Bots.  
  
All of the level one units were set to base patrol, and then I split the Fido's into four groups of two, and sent them on patrol around the base. The Zeus' were used for Guard duty around for the base. The Maverick's were guarding the research station. The Adv. C-Bots and Regular C-Bots were nanolathing two Flakkers around each building and then they put up a staggered defense line about a hundred meters around the base consisting of pop up cannons, Sentinels, Defenders, and Guardians.  
  
Then a report came from Empyrean that CORE forces had been reported in a nearby star system. So, I ordered 4 C-Bots, 2 Adv. C-Bots, and 12 Pee-Wees. I took these and headed north to establish a secondary base.  
  
Zeus 1 looked around the base and was Very pleased the Commander had put him in charge while he went to establish several secondary bases to the North. The Adv. C-Bots had just finished Vulcan and the Reg. C-Bots are currently nanolathing a vehicle plant. Then Zeus 1 received a message from Zipper 4;  
  
CORE DEEP SPACE PROBE DETECTED AT CORDINATES 23:874:2359, POSSIBLE CORE LANDING WITHIN STADARD WEEKRATED AT 68.69% POSSIBILITY.  
  
AWAITING ORDERS.  
  
Zeus 1 went pale at the thought of facing a CORE task force, which would certainly contain a Commander. Zeus 1 immediately sent all Zippers to 23:874:2359 to search and destroy the CORE probe, then Zeus 1 ordered several more c-units and started building a defense force, and then he sent a message to CX-1.  
  
  
  
CORE PRESCENCE DETECTED, BUILDING DEFENSES AND COMBAT UNITS.  
  
ZIPPER 4'S REPORT  
  
CORE DEEP SPACE PROBE DETECTED AT CORDINATES 23:874:2359, POSSIBLE CORE LANDING WITHIN STADARD WEEK RATED AT 68.69% POSSIBILITY.  
  
AWAITING ORDERS.  
  
SUGGEST BUILDING ADDITIONAL BASES FOR ADDITIONAL METAL AND ENERGY PRODUCTION. AWAITING ORDERS.  
  
  
  
X was displeased about the CORE probe, if that probe detected us, and there was a very good chance of that happening, the CORE would be landing within two weeks. Time was of the essence, bases had to be built, combat units readied, aircraft bases had to be built in order to scout out the rest of the planet. "And I have less than two weeks to do this in," thought X, this is going to be a rough battle.  
  
"##% root," thought Zipper 24, here I am, out in the middle of the jungle, looking for a little worthless piece of metal. Then, looking around a tree, there it was, a CORE deep space probe.  
  
ALERT ALL UNITS: PROBE FOUND AT 34:345:3563  
  
ALL ZIPPERS PROCEED TO AREA IMMEDIATELY.  
  
Then Zipper 24 started pumping lasers into the thin hull of the probe, as other Zippers added their lasers to his, the probe started to melt. "Allright!, its almost gone now!" thought Zipper 24 happily, then, the probe suddenly exploded, taking all of the Zippers with it to a fiery grave, along with nearly 5 square miles of forest.  
  
"What the h#ll?" thought X, was that an anti-matter bomb? The probe! of course, it would have a Roach or two in it to use once it found the base, the CORE are definitely coming now, we have to hurry.  
  
ATTENTION ALL ARM UNITS:  
  
CORE FORCES EXPECTED TO LAND WITHIN 10 DAYS, BEWARE POSSIBLE ROACHS RELEASED BY PROBE. INCREASE DEFENSE PRODUCTION. C-BOTS 8-12, C-VEHICLES 6- 10, C-PLANES 46, AND ADV. C-PLANE 4 PROCEED TO 78:429:9482 AND SET UP MAJOR NAVAL, K-BOT, AND AIR PLANTS. PRIORITY! NANOLATHE SPACE LAUNCHING FACILITY. NANOLATHE 4 SPACE C-PLANES, NANOLATHE SPACEYARDS WITH STANDARD DEFENSE FLEET AND ORBITAL GUNS.  
  
LONG LIVE THE ARM!  
  
"At least I will be off the front lines for awhile," thought C-Plane 3, it will take a while to build a base that big. I hope we will have the orbital defenses up before the CORE ships arrive.  
  
"#%% CORE!" said X, "they took Siberia Prime, a major transportation node for the arm, it had 8 Galactic Gates, 100 fusion reactors, and one of those gates leads to Empyrean!". As Commander X read through the report again, Zeus 1 shuddered at the thought of CORE forces reaching Empyrean.  
  
The dropship shaked and rattled on its way down into the atmosphere of Vega Epsilon IV. Core Commander Zach-COPR-0017 (the COPR stands for Core Prime, where he was patterned) was looking over the video feed from outside the ship trying to determine the best place to set up base. Ahh, there we go, that valley over there will provide an excellent base, as it is protected on three sides by mountains, and the only way in or out is a narrow pass to the south.  
  
Flea-EMP-73659 was on his normal patrol route, which took him by a valley that would be perfect for a base, but Commander X said that we don't have the resources or the manpower to set up a base this far away from the other bases and reinforcements. Flea-EMP-73659 sighed, that's when he looked up and saw a Core dropship heading toward the valley. Flea-EMP-73659 started back to the nearest base at full speed in order to get in radio range to report the core landing.  
  
CX-1, or Commander X, named after his Experimental Commander suit, Read Flea-EMP-73659's report again. D@mn Core!, thought X, there will be at least one Core Commander on that ship along with several light level two units such as freakers and pyros. It will be hard to uproot the Core once they have set up their base in that valley.  
  
ATTENTION ALL ARM FORCES:  
  
CORE FORCES HAVE LANDED AT 34:485:8463  
  
ALL AVAILABLE FORCES ATTACK ALL CORE UNITS FOUND AT AND SURROUNDING THE VALLEY.  
  
END TRANSMISSION.  
  
Hopefully that should at least cripple the Core for awhile. At least long enough to set up another base and increase defenses.  
  
Core Commander Zach-COPR-0017 was feeling very pleased with his base; it had 2 k-bot labs, and advanced k-bot lab, one vehicle plant, one advanced vehicle plant, two aircraft plants, an advanced aircraft plant, 6 solars, and 3 metal extractors. It also had four punishers, 10 pulerizers, and 8 GAAT guns guarding the entrance, which is heavily mined. Commander Zach turned to help nanolathe an advanced radar tower when the first mine lit up. It was an Arm attack! All of the punishers, pulverizers, and GAAT guns opened up on the advancing arm forces, which stopped the Arm advance cold in its tracks.  
  
Commander X was very displeased with the battle report, only 1 punisher, 5 pulverizers, 3 GAAT's, a k-bot lab, and a andvance vehicle plant were destroyed or disabled beyond repair. At a cost of 7 Mavericks, 18 Peewees, 5 Zippers, 14 bulldogs, and 24 Zeus'. The space launch facilities weren't even started yet, and now the Core had a fully functional base on the planet. And to top it all off, the research station was directly in front of a wide canyon that stretched all the way to the Core base, so any attack would have to come through the research base.  
  
Zeus 1 was now in command of Firebase 4, it was the Arm's major naval base on the Eastern Ocean, which is the largest body of water on the planet. That was when he got a call from Commander X.  
  
ZEUS 1, YOU ARE TO IMMEDIATELY CONSTRUCT 6 SONAR JAMMERS, 4 CONSTRUCTION SUBS, AND 8 PIRANHA SUBS. THESE UNITS WILL GO TO 46:375:9378, WHERE THEY WILL MEET ME AND RECEIVE FURTHER ORDERS.  
  
46:375:9378? That's in the middle of the ocean! What could the commander possibly want to build there?  
  
"Finished!" thought Commander X, the new underwater research base is completed. The new fiber-optic floating radar nets are in place, an amazing invention, it's nothing more than little floating plastic tubes that transmit an undetectable radar pulse, and since it's clear plastic, it can't be seen by satellites or patrolling aircraft. The new underwater submersible factory is fully functional, it can make Tritons, Lurkers, Piranhas, sonar jammars, and the Advanced Construction sub. The boys down in the research station have come up with some great underwater weapons, like the Puffer Platform, its essentially a retractable platform that has a weapon stuck on and goes underwater when not in use. We also have the permanently underwater seaplane platform, sea floor based torpedo launchers, and disguised underwater Retaliator Nuclear silos.  
  
Zeus 1 sat back in his desk, thinking about what to do next, since his base was pretty far from the Core base, we don't much action here, especially since the commander decided to move the spaceport facilities to the new research base, wherever that is. Well Zeus 1 was just closing his eyes to think about what to do, when the alarms went of, when Zeus 1 got up from falling out of his chair he looked at his tactical screen. D@mn! An entire Core assault force! There had to be at least 400 units out there. Zeus 1 ran to his K-bot c.ursing all the way.  
  
Maverick 233 shot an A.K. right in its small torso and blew it's legs out from under him, then turned and started firing on a Goliath to his right. 'There are to many of these creeps!' thought Maverick 233. Just then, a plasma round from a reaper caught him in his right leg. As Maverick 233 lay on the ground, shooting at everything he could, he saw the worst thing in his entire military career stand not ten feet away from him, a Krogoth. He had only seen one other, and of that battle, 600 men and women went in, and only 16 got out alive. Then, the Krogoth looks straight at Maverick 233, and starts to charge up his head laser. 'This is the end' thought Maverick 233, then he closed his eyes, and lifted both of his guns while the lasers charge just kept going up and up, and just before the Krogoth fired, 233 fire both his guns into its head, which neatly popped off its body. The other units Core and Arm froze, stunned that a mere Maverick had destroyed a Krogoth with one shot. The Arm snapped out of it before the Core did, and started slaughtering the frozen Core units. About half of them were destroyed before they started shooting back. As the Core started a very disorganized retreat back towards the mountains, Maverick 233 passed out.  
  
Back on dry land, Commander X looked up to see that Maverick 233 had moved again in his drug induced sleep. The doctors said that he had to sleep for another 8 hours before they could wake him up. Well that's okay, let him sleep, he deserves it. And for the millionth time, X went over the Mavericks battle logs again.  
  
Meanwhile the Krogoths body had been taken to the research station to be studied, Hopefully they could design an equivalent unit to counter the Krogoth. Because Maverick 233 just got lucky to hit him just right so that it didn't explode and take out half the base. Peepers were out on their morning patrols, looking for any kind of Core advance base or camp. How the Core managed to sneak all those units right under our nose is still a mystery, but all bases have been put on alert.  
  
Maverick 233 opened his eyes, and saw the Commander staring down on him, the shock of it nearly bounced him out of his bed. What was the Commander doing here? Then it all came back to him, the battle, the Krogoth, it's head bouncing away toward the beach. "Calm down" said the Commander, "you did a very heroic deed here today, and I am glad to pronounce your promotion." 'Promotion?' thought 233, does that mean I get a name? "I hereby promote you to the rank of Commander, you will leave for Empyrean, in the next galactic gate cycle, which is in 6 days. I suggest you start thinking about a name for yourself." And with that, the Commander shook my hand and walked out of the room, leaving me to think about, Everything.  
  
As I stood in front of the gate, I thought about all that had happened to me. Killing a Krogoth, almost dying in the attempt. And now I am a Commander, being sent back to Empyrean for training, Commander's suit, and a new assignment. Then Commander X walked up behind me and congratulated me and shook my hand one last time before I step through the galactic gate to Empyrean. "Good luck, Maverick" said Commander X, "I know you'll do well", and with that Commander John Wayne Maverick, formerly Maverick 233, stepped through the gate into his future.  
  
Commander X watched him go through the gate, and then he turned and left, thinking about the young man who he had sent to the hardest job of his life. Then Zeus 1 came up to him and handed him a report, it read;  
  
CORE HAVE SET UP TWO NORTHERN FIREBASES ON SMILEYS RIDGE (It's shaped like a smiley face) AND CRATER ALPHA-286.  
  
EACH FORCE CONSIST OF:  
  
4 C-KBOTS  
  
2 C-VEHICLES  
  
2 C-PLANES  
  
10 CRASHERS  
  
10 A.K.  
  
5 THUDS  
  
10 SLASHERS  
  
10 INSTIGATORS  
  
5 RAIDERS  
  
1 FINK  
  
6 AVENGERS  
  
1 VALKYRE  
  
BASES WILL BE CONSTRUCTED IN APP. 4.78 S.D.  
  
END REPORT.  
  
So, they're expanding they're forces, time for a new assault of the unfinished firebases, smileys ridge will be first.  
  
"Maverick 128, take the forces I have assigned to you and attack the Core firebase on smileys ridge. Your forces will consist of 50 Peewees, 10 Hammers, 5 Jethros, 5 Rockos, 10 Fidos, 5 Zeus', 40 Flashes, 10 Samsons, 20 Bulldogs, 10 Merls, 12 Hawks, and 6 Brawlers.  
  
Proceed and destroy the Core base then contact me with a report of the battle and for further orders.  
  
183 units, that should be enough to take out both bases. But what defenses do they have in place by now? They could have put up dozens of GAAT guns. Well we'll see what the first base has, then I'll decide about the other one.  
  
Where are they? Thought Maverick 128. The base is empty, the k-bot labs, vehicle plants, and aircraft plants are completely silent. And there aren't any mobile units anywhere. "Hawks, do an over flight, we need to know where those enemy units are." "Roger" said Hawk 87, 'maybe they're behind that ridge,' and that was Hawk 87's last thought as a guided missile went up his tailpipe. Then 40 Vamps and 15 Rapiers came over the ridge, followed by 20 Reapers, 10 Goliaths, 10 Diplomats, 30 Pyros, 10 Cans, 20 Slashers, 30 A.K.'s, 20 Crashers, and 30 Instigators.  
  
Ambush! Thought Maverick 128. In ten minutes half of the Arm forces were wiped out, for every Core unit that died, two Arm units would die. Maverick 128 signaled a retreat. When it was all over and done with and done with, there were only 12 Pee-wees, 2 Rockos, 1 Jethro, 3 Bulldogs, 1 Merl, 2 Fidos, 8 Flashes, and one Hawk.  
  
This was a disaster! Thought Commander X, A whole assault force destroyed! The badly damaged survivors had just returned to firebase 38 on the northern plains. Well, at least the space launch pad is coming along well; it will be finished in approx. 28.837 S.D. Then we can finish the Core off with the help of orbital weapons.  
  
As the new underwater space platform is finally completed, Commander X watches as the first spy satellite is launched into orbit. Soon a space construction plane will follow and begin orbital defenses, and the core scum will be trapped here to die. X then look out at the ocean floor through his office window, the torpedo launchers, sea mines, sonar jammers, piranhas, and underwater nuke silos, stretching for as far as the eye can see. You see, the underwater base is over 138 miles wide and 118 miles long, in a roughly oval shape.  
  
Zeus 1 looks down at the new base operating status report, and wonders why he ever accepted this assignment, nothing but paperwork and more paper-"RED ALERT" "RED ALERT" "CORE ATTACK FORCE DETECTED" D@mn! Not again! As Zeus 1 ran to his suit, cursing all the way, again. All of the base's units and defenses were out and fully charged, everybody wondered were the core were. Then dozens of crock tanks rolled up the lightly defended shore, as all the units turned and headed toward the beach, 20 Goliaths charged out of the forest, followed by diplomats, mortys, Pyros, and other units. The Arm units were caught with their backs turned to the major force, and their numbers were immediately cut in half. As Zeus 1 fried the turret of one of the Goliaths, an A.K. started shooting at him, Zeus 1 turned around and zapped him, shorting out all of its joints and freezing it in place. Zeus 1 then jumps and rolls out of the way of a plasma shell just to land in front of a charging Goliath, Zeus 1 shoots its right tread, melting it and causes the Goliath to swing around and crash into a group of A.K.s  
  
Just then, Several EMP missiles slammed into the core forces, completely scrambling their circuits, then the Arm clean house, destroying all of the frozen core units. Then, back at the underwater base, the first spacecon plane is launched into space to begin working on the orbital shipyards.  
  
Then Commander X stands in his office looking a holoprojection of the planet, highlighting all core units, X thinks to himself, "my plan is finally ready, operation Apocalypse begins at dawn."  
  
The orbital emp weapons were finally ready, a new space weapon design to scramble patterns circuits in minutes, with four hundred of these in place, the entire Core territory could be hit with large, repeating, and shocking EMP blasts. Every core unit on this planet will be frozen in place for 8 hours, before it wears off. And then the Hawk and Brawler squadrons should be able to take them all out within that time. It was a major achievement to build thousands of hawks and brawlers without the core knowing, then hide them all over the planet. We will be able to capture Core construction units and have complete access to all their nanolathe plans; High Command will have a field day with this.  
  
As dawn approaches Core Commander Zach is nanolathing a new k-bot lab, and wonders about all the space activity of the Arm, what are they doing up their? There are more and more space units everyday, it will take a fleet to break through that defense net, and I don't have the resources to build a space fleet on the ground. Dawn, as Core Commander Zach looked up, he saw several unusual flashes of light in the sky, and then all went dark.  
  
Hawks and Brawlers took off from all over the world and started slaughtering the core units, Its only been half an hour and already over 4000 core units are dead, the atlas' are out there hunting for con. units to pick up and transport to a special area for capture. 7 hours later, 96% of all Core forces have been destroyed or captured, all that's left is the main base. As the thousand of hawks and brawlers converge on the base, they find the core have woken up and were able to shoot back. 50 Hawks died in the first wave, which took out the defenses and the second took out the factories and units, the brawlers were busy taking out the commander, darting in firing a few shots, darting out of the explosion radius, or trying to anyway, when the core commander went up, it took around 30 brawlers with it. It was over, the Core have been wiped from the planets surface. News of the victory reached Empyrean and Commander X received new orders.  
  
COMMANDER X, SECOND CLASS  
  
YOU ARE TO PROCEED TO M3982.28 TO SET UP RESOURCE STATION AND PROCEED TO TRAIN COMMANDER JOHN W. MAVERICK, FIFTH CLASS. WE EXPECT CORE FORCES TO PASS THROUGH THAT AREA SOME TIME IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS, BUILD UP DEFENSES AND BE READY TO GIVE THE CORE A VERY WARM WELCOME.  
  
ADMIRAL NIMITZ783  
  
Ah, Commander Maverick finally got out of commander training, Well, I better go pack. Commander X didn't have a whole lot of stuff, just his dress uniform, a couple of working uniforms and a piece of metal from the Krogoth Commander Maverick killed, which X had been polished and put in a little plaque for Commander Maverick. As Commander X stepped through the Galactic Gate, he wondered who High Command had put in charge here. 


End file.
